Tuesday, 25 May 2010

John Phillip Law (September 7, 1937 – May 13, 2008) was an American film actor, with more than a hundred movie roles to his credit. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Phyllis Sallee and the brother of actor Thomas Augustus Law (also known as Tom Law).

He was best known for his roles as the blind angel Pygar in the 1968 science fiction cult classic Barbarella, and as news anchor Robin Stone in the 1971 movie The Love Machine. (The latter reteamed him with Alexandra Hay, his costar from the 1968 "acid comedy" Skidoo.) He also gained attention in the title role of the 1968 thriller Danger: Diabolik and as a Russian sailor stranded in a New England village in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

Tall (six-foot-five) and handsome, with steel blue eyes, Law became a male sex symbol in the 1960s. He was a VIP guest at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion and in Hollywood society. While he never achieved superstar status, he became a popular action hero, particularly in the Italian movie market, with movies ranging from science fiction and fantasy to comedy, westerns, drama, and war movies.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

The Amazon rainforest is the biggest tropical forest in the world, covering some 40% of the continent of South America, spread across nine countries and 6.6m square kilometres.

More than 40,000 plant species, including 1,000 different trees, have been identified in the rainforest. According to figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), it is also home to 427 different mammals, 1,294 birds, as well as 30 million people, including more than 220 indigenous groups.

About 65% of the Amazon rainforest lies within Brazil and is home to 13% of the country's population. Since 1970 almost 700,000 square kilometres of the Brazilian Amazon have been cleared.

The area shown in squares below represents the 4.1m square kilometres of the Brazilian Amazon and shows how much has been cleared or is at risk. Each square measures 2,500 square kilometres.

The Amazon rainforest is the biggest tropical forest in the world, covering some 40% of the continent of South America, spread across nine countries and 6.6m square kilometres.

More than 40,000 plant species, including 1,000 different trees, have been identified in the rainforest. According to figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), it is also home to 427 different mammals, 1,294 birds, as well as 30 million people, including more than 220 indigenous groups.

DEFORESTATION

About 65% of the Amazon rainforest lies within Brazil and is home to 13% of the country's population. Since 1970 almost 700,000 square kilometres of the Brazilian Amazon have been cleared.

The area shown in squares below represents the 4.1m square kilometres of the Brazilian Amazon and shows how much has been cleared or is at risk. Each square measures 2,500 square kilometres.

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION

Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Since 1990, the number of cattle in the Amazon has more than doubled from 26 million to 57 million in 2002.

The rise in production has been driven by a huge rise in beef exports - combined with a revaluation of the Brazilian currency, the Real, which made cattle ranching more profitable for farmers and encouraged them to deforest.

The graph below shows how deforestation rose as beef and hardwood exports increased until 2004.

Since then the government has achieved some success in reducing the amount of forest being cleared, through controlling illegal logging, more land inspections and creating conservation areas, although figures released in January 2008 suggest deforestation is beginning to rise again.

Brazil overtook the US as the world's leading exporter of soybeans in 2005/6, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Although soybean farmers tend to occupy land already cleared of forest, they accelerate deforestation in other areas by pushing subsistence farmers further into the forest and encouraging the development of new roads and other infrastructure.

Satellite pictures, like those above, show how farmers begin clearing land along roads and gradually spread further into the forest.

Deforestation is threatening the future of the forest - with dozens of tree and plant species at risk of extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, which monitors plant and animal species, calculates there are 382 plant species in Brazil at risk. It also classifies 343 different types of mammals as at risk.

There are also fears large-scale deforestation could contribute to global warming. The Amazon acts as a "carbon sink", absorbing carbon dioxide. But once the trees are cut down, this absorption stops. Often the wood is burned, releasing carbon; and the loss of forest cover can also lead to carbon release from the soil.

Research at the Paulista State University in Guaratingueta, Brazil, calculates an average of 22,000 tons of carbon dioxide is emitted per square kilometre of forest cut down.

The forest also releases enough water to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration to influence world climate patterns.

Forecasts of the forest's future predict deforestation will continue. The WWF predicts 30% of the forest will be lost by 2030, if deforestation continues at the 1998-2003 rates and current climate conditions apply.

Even the best case scenario projection suggests 20% of the forest could be lost, if the government's schemes for preserving the forest succeed.

Saturday, 22 May 2010

The Atlantic Forest of tropical South America boasts 20,000 plant species, 40 percent of which are endemic. Yet, less than 10 percent of the forest remains. More than two dozen Critically Endangered vertebrate species are clinging to survival in the region, including three species of lion tamarins and six bird species that are restricted to the small patch of forest near the Murici Ecological Station in northeastern Brazil. With almost 950 kinds of birds occurring in this hotspot, there are many unique species including the red-billed curassow, the Brazilian merganser, and numerous threatened parrot species.

Beginning with sugarcane plantations and later, coffee plantations, this region has been losing habitat for hundreds of years. Now, with the increased expansion of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the Atlantic Forest is facing severe pressure from the issues tied to urbanization.

The Cerrado region of Brazil, comprising 21 percent of the country, is the most extensive woodland-savanna in South America. With a pronounced dry season, it supports a unique array of drought- and fire- adapted plant species and surprising numbers of endemic bird species. Large mammals such as the giant anteater, giant armadillo, jaguar and maned wolf also still survive here but are competing with the rapid expansion of Brazil's agricultural frontier, which focuses primarily on soy and corn. Ranching is another major threat to the region, as it produces almost 40 million cattle a year.

The Cabanagem (1835-1840) was a social revolt that occurred in the then-province of Grão-Pará, Brazil.

Among the causes for this revolt were the extreme poverty of the Paraense people and the political irrelevance to which the province was relegated after the independence of Brazil.

The name "Cabanagem" refers to the type of hut used by the poorest people living next to streams, principally mestizos, freed slaves, and indigenous people. The elite agriculturists of Grão-Pará, while living much better, resented their lack of participation in the central government's decisionmaking, which was dominated by the provinces of the Southeast and Northeast.

It is estimated that from 30 to 40% of the population of Grão-Pará, estimated at 100,000 people, died. In 1833 the Province had 119,877 inhabitants, being 32,751 Amerindians and 29,977 black slaves. Mixed-race people were 42,000. The White minority was 15,000, over half of them Portuguese.[1] The revolt had a strong racial background. The Amerindian, Black and mixed majority, which lived under deep poverty, fought against the White minority that dominated the economy and culture, not only in Grão-Pará, but in the rest of Brazil as well.[2]

Background

During the independence, Grão-Pará mobilized itself to expel reactionary forces which tried to reintegrate Brazil into the Portuguese Empire. Until 1822 Grão-Pará had been a separate viceroyalty from Brazil, reporting herself directly to Portugal; after Brazilian independence Grão-Pará decided to join Brazil. In the independence struggle, which dragged on for several years, the canon and journalist João Batista Gonçalves Campos, the Vinagre brothers and the farmer Félix Clemente Antônio Malcher stood out. Several lodges of fugitive slaves formed, and there were frequent military rebellions. Once the fight for independence ended and a provincial government named by Brazilian Emperor was installed, the local leaders were marginalized from power.

In July 1831 - a few months after the abdication of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil at Rio de Janeiro - a rebellion in the military garrison of Belém do Pará broke out, and Batista Campos was imprisoned as one of the implicated leaders. The indignation of the poor grew, and in 1833 already there was talk of converting Brazil into a federation. The provincial president, Bernardo Lobo de Souza, unleashed a repressive political wave, in an attempt to contain the separatists. The climax was reached in 1834, when Batista Campos published a letter from the Bishop of Pará, Romualdo de Sousa Coelho, criticizing various politicians from the province. For not having permission from the provincial government, Campos was persecuted, and sought refuge on the fazenda of his friend Clemente Malcher. Meeting the Vinagre brothers (Manuel Vinagre, Francisco Pedro Vinagre, and Antônio Vinagre) and the India-rubber collector and journalist Eduardo Angelim they joined a contingent of rebels on Malcher's plantation. Before being attacked by government forces, they abandoned the plantation. Nevertheless, on November 3, troops managed to kill Manuel Vinagre and hold Malcher and other rebels. Batista Campos died on the last day of the year, apparently because of an infection caused by a cut he suffered while shaving.

The movement

On the night of January 6, 1835 the rebels attacked and conquered the city of Belém, assassinating the president Sousa Lobo and the Army Commander, and acquiring a large quantity of munitions. On January 7, Clement Malcher was released and was chosen as president of the province, with Francisco Vinagre as the Army Commander. The government did not last long, because when Malcher, with the support of the upper class, attempted to keep the province united to the Brazilian empire, Francisco Vinagre, Eduardo Angelim, and the other rebels attempted to separate. The break happened when Malcher ordered Angelim taken. Troops on both sides enterred the conflict, and the side of Francisco Vinagre was victorious. Clemente Malcher was assassinated, and his body was dragged through the streets of Belém.

Now in the presidency and the Army Command of the Province, Francisco Vinagre was not able to keep his supporters faithful. If it were not for the intervention of his brother Antônio, he would have yielded the government to imperial control, in the person of marshall Manuel Jorge Rodrigues in July 1835. Due to this weakness and the resurgence of a squadron commanded by the English admiral Taylor, the rebel forces were destroyed and retired toward the interior. Reorganizing their forces, they again attacked Belém on August 14. After nine days of battle, and suffering the death of Antônio Vinagre, they retook the capital.

Eduardo Angelim assumed the presidency. For ten months, the elite were alarmed by the rebel control over the province of Grão-Pará. The lack of a plan with concrete means to consolidate the rebel government again provoked a weakness in the ranks. In March 1836, the brigadier José de Sousa Soares Andréia was named president of the province. His first measure was to attack the capital again, which was carried out in April 1836, and as a result of which the rebel group decided to abandon the capital in favor of resistance from the interior.

Naval forces under the command of John Pascoe Grenfell blockaded Belém and, on May 10, Angelim fled from the capital, and was captured and detained. Meanwhile, contrary to what Soares Andréia imagined, the resistance did not end with the detention of Angelim. For three years, the rebels continued to resist from the interior of the province, but were gradually destroyed. The conflict finally ended when amnesty was declared to the rebels, in 1839. In 1840 the last rebel group, under the leadership of Gonçalo Jorge de Magalhães, yielded.[edit] Legacy

It is estimated that during the five years of fighting in the revolt, the population of Pará was reduced from about 100,000 to 60,000.[3]

In homage to the Cabano movement the Memorial da Cabanagem was erected in the entrance to the city of Belém.

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

I caught a tremendous fishand held him beside the boathalf out of water, with my hookfast in a corner of his mouth.He didn't fight.He hadn't fought at all.He hung a grunting weight,battered and venerableand homely. Here and therehis brown skin hung in stripslike ancient wallpaper,and its pattern of darker brownwas like wallpaper:shapes like full-blown rosesstained and lost through age.He was speckled and barnacles,fine rosettes of lime,and infestedwith tiny white sea-lice,and underneath two or threerags of green weed hung down.While his gills were breathing inthe terrible oxygen--the frightening gills,fresh and crisp with blood,that can cut so badly--I thought of the coarse white fleshpacked in like feathers,the big bones and the little bones,the dramatic reds and blacksof his shiny entrails,and the pink swim-bladderlike a big peony.I looked into his eyeswhich were far larger than minebut shallower, and yellowed,the irises backed and packedwith tarnished tinfoilseen through the lensesof old scratched isinglass.They shifted a little, but notto return my stare.--It was more like the tippingof an object toward the light.I admired his sullen face,the mechanism of his jaw,and then I sawthat from his lower lip--if you could call it a lipgrim, wet, and weaponlike,hung five old pieces of fish-line,or four and a wire leaderwith the swivel still attached,with all their five big hooksgrown firmly in his mouth.A green line, frayed at the endwhere he broke it, two heavier lines,and a fine black threadstill crimped from the strain and snapwhen it broke and he got away.Like medals with their ribbonsfrayed and wavering,a five-haired beard of wisdomtrailing from his aching jaw.I stared and staredand victory filled upthe little rented boat,from the pool of bilgewhere oil had spread a rainbowaround the rusted engineto the bailer rusted orange,the sun-cracked thwarts,the oarlocks on their strings,the gunnels--until everythingwas rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!And I let the fish go.

Prepay was via Western Union – was a little complicated but finally worked. Balance was in USD cash on the day

Pickup at pier in two cars, 9:15 AM transfer to riverboat at Richard Hemmington’s pier, to meeting of the waters, canoe on floodplain, explore Maica Lake, return. Snack and mineral water included.

EVALUATION:

One of the highlights of the trip – Gil is a delight. Saw sloths, pink dolphins, many birds. Gil mailed us tee shirts, carry bags, and copies of his bird book prior to the trip. Fished for piranhas, caught some, Gil and Junior (boat capt) cooked them up for a snack – tasty! Smaller boat excursion into flooded forest. Group after ours (also on B2B) also loved this one – they hit a tree at some point, knocked it down and were treated to seeing all the critters that lived there which included a colony of bats escaping. We saw several pods of pink dolphins, lots of birds and sloths. Even more interesting was Gil’s commentary of the way of life in this region – farming during the dry season, fishing during the flooded times and how people move back and forth from their homes on stilts to other homes on higher ground and keep their livestock on platforms raised up above the river and move them around on barges, which we were also able to see.

Gil was guide to the author of Thief at the End of the World – Joe Jackson – a book about the man who ‘stole’ rubber seeds for Kew Garden that ultimately formed the basis of the S.E.Asia British Empire rubber plantations and doomed the Brazilian rubber industry – very good book.

Monday, 3 May 2010

About one year ago the norwegian prime minister gets to the pier at Santarem(hometown)near my house and donates 1 million dollars to protect rainforest...yesterday Norsk Hydro ASA bought the whole aluminum manufacturing area from Vale. they dropped 1,1 bilhão de dólares.